Jesse Owens in River Ridge enjoys gym upgrade, but other parts of the playground languish

It is abundantly clear that Jesse Owens Playground’s facilities in River Ridge have languished for years. Whether they have been forgotten or neglected, the reality remains the same: decay. In the midst of broken-down fences, rusted bleachers, barbed wire draping the playground’s outer limits, and a children’s play area in dire need of an upgrade, the playground’s gymnasium emerges as an oasis.

Baseball isn’t really the sport of choice at Owens, said Keith Davillier, the playground’s supervisor. The children are passionate about track and field and basketball, so the gym has more value than a baseball diamond anyway, he said.

“We had a struggle. We had a struggle for awhile, and it took some miracles to get them to spend the type of money that they spent in here,” Davillier said.

Upgrades inside the gym have taken place over the past couple of years. Davillier is proud of how things look on the inside.

“We named the court after a lady who’s been coaching for about 40 years now,” Davillier said. “We still got some things to do. All of our funding comes directly from the Recreation Department, and if we need help, we can get help from the councilman (Mark Spears Jr.).”

Help is suppose to be on the way for a couple of projects, one of which will improve the area outside the gym.

“The two major things on tap are the kiddieland and hopefully, installing a security system,” Davillier said.

The playground’s booster club recently pitched in to help with improvements when Davillier went to them for help.

“I had my booster club a couple of months ago buy a new score table, but that’s about it,” Davillier said.

Such improvements are not the things on which the booster club normally spends money. “The only thing we rely on the booster club for is to make sure that the kids have uniforms,” Davillier said. “Any major stuff that goes on around the park, that’s the parish’s responsibility.”

How much responsibility the parish has to each playground, however, depends on certain factors. “Everything’s generated by participation. The whole funding source is generated by numbers,” C.J. Gibson, the director of JPRD, said.

Despite the range of the conditions of facilities around the Jefferson Parish Recreation Department, Davillier confirms what Gibson said. “We’re all funded equally,” Davillier said.